Title: Unthinkable
Fandom: Dragonriders of Pern
Pairing: gen (with background OFC/OMC)
Categories: Angst, Drama, Family, Sad Story, Yuletide
Length: Medium (4,898 words)
Warnings: Suicide (both past Suicide by OC and Attempted Suicide by main character)

Author on LJ: unknown
Author Website: Kastaka

Summary:
Being left Standing - it gets easier, and it doesn't.

Review:
This yuletide story hit me right in the gut. It's a thoughtful exploration of Pern's society, and what it would mean for those who don't like dragons and/or don't make the 'cut' to get chosen. Told through the lens of three women: the main character who grows up in a Weir and despairs of never bonding with a dragon, her distant but well meaning mother, and her loving yet overwhelmed foster-mother. What would it be like to grow up with all your life geared toward training to be a dragonrider but not be picked. How do you pick up the pieces? How do you communicate with your mother, when her whole world revolves around something you're excluded from. How hard it must be for a woman acting as a foster-parent to child after child that is trained to ride and fight and likely die.

There are no easy answers for any of the three women and their heartbreaks, and it had me crying and crying. Great storytelling, but read only if you're ready for intense emotions and real and immediate references to suicide.

Unthinkable